That Damn Test
by Culinary
Summary: Neji takes the mysterious Jounin exam. What is on it? Will he survive? Happens in between the two latest manga arcs. My summary's are bad ;;


I don't own Naruto, or any of it's toys, games, or affiliated...stuff. If you think so, then you can continue doing so, because you can't do anything about it.

* * *

The Hyuuga training grounds were cut off separate from the regular Konoha training area. It was kept in between the two houses of the Hyuuga. Lush and freshly manicured green grass was the only place a Hyuuga should train. At least, that's what Hiashi said. 

They were nearly empty, but the shouts and thumps of Neji's training made the place seem bursting with young Hyuuga's sweating thier hearts out. Tiny chips splintered his skin and the veins in his eyes nearly popped because of the intense power of the Byakugan.. His long hair flew;it wasn't tied at all. Hinata watch as it flowed majestically in the air, ducking and weaving in the wind. They had been out here for 7 hours. It had began as a team training, with Tenten and Lee having special access into the Hyuuga mansion. Neji ferocity had tired out Tenten within the first hour and even the tenacious Lee was finished after the third.

"Aren't you...scared?"

Hinata's tiny squeaks were barely audible over the shouts that Neji made against the wooden training dummy. With hit, he howled. Maybe in pain, Hinata didn't know. His fingers wore calluses as trophies and mostly all of his nails were chipped short. She wondered what would the others female genins would think of him now. She asked again as Neji struck the wooden dummy with his finger.

"Neji. Aren't you..."

_Crack!_

"...scared?" She hadn't heard the crack, but saw that Neji was down on his knee's, apparently in pain. She ran over to her cousin to see what was wrong. Staring at his position she could see he was in _a lot_ of pain. He was crouched over in a kind of fetal position, clutching his right middle finger. The younger Hyuuga walked up to him carefully.

"_Get away!"_ he chided her through the pain. The Byakugan was faded now and blood leaked from his fingernails. _Just like him._ "I'm sorry Hinata, I wasn't thinking." He showed his finger to Hinata. It was twisted at the tip, not at all the way it was supposed to be. She reached over and held it gently. Trying her hardest to besoft, she examined it.

"It's broken, that for sure. You should call it a night." Or morning, she just realized. The dark sky had become an early morning purple/orange. Guessing from the color, she guessed it was around 6 o'clock or so. She stood up straight and dusted off her kimono. It was a tan color, used for casual occasions around the Hyuuga mansions. That night when she asked Neji if she could watch his training, she had no idea she would be out this late.

Neji got up from the dirt, still clutching the finger. "I think I can do a few more sets." He smiled a rare smile at his Hyuuga cousin. She blushed, but kept firm.

"You can't keep training on that finger, you'll torture yourself."

"And if I don't, I'll fail." Neji snapped back. Before Hinata could retort, Hiashi Hyuuga stepped out of one of the mansions doors. His long morning kimono was adorned in golden lions and tigers. His hair flowed freely and was combed straight.

"Neji. Hinata. Get to bed. I've been listening to your training all night." His decision was final. Even Neji had to agree with that, so he and Hinata walked to opposite sides of the training grounds and walked into the separate houses. Before Hinata could say goodnight, Neji turned around and faced her.

"Hinata, I am scared." He turned into the Hyuuga branch house.

* * *

"Shit!" Neji winced as a branch family member tended to his wound. Wrapping a broken finger is not as easy as it looks and since the resident medical-nin was out on a mission, Neji was left with his trainee. 

"You shouldn't use Jyuuken any more tonight, you might re-break it." She was pretty, most of the boys in Konoha thought so. Neji was kin, so he never thought of her that way. He had to admit though, she did have some kind of magnificence in her look. "Maybe this will help. I haven't gotten much practice at it, but I'll try." She must've saw Neji's face, because then she added, "I'm only doing it becauseyour exam iscoming up. This can be the only way you can go in uninhibited."

She lowered her palms over the fracture. To Neji astonishment, it felt good. A mixture between numbness and heat. "Thanks." He said. "Most of the pain is gone now." The bandage was tied extra tight. It was for some medical reason, Neji didn't know. He got up and walked toward the exit of the medical ward.

"Good luck on the exam, Neji!" The Hyuuga called out. He didn't answer, but threw is hand up into the air in some kind of makeshift wave.

Neji's room wasn't fancy, no frills or flashy posters. Just a square room with gray walls and a futon in the right left corner. His closet was nearly empty, since his training clothes were all being washed. The ceremonial Kimono was in there, but he had only worn it once, to his fathers funeral. After that, itremained inhis mind as a reminder of abad memory. He would of preferred to throw it away, but Hiashi insisted on keeping it to protect the Hyuuga way of sewing.

Neji rested on futon and pulled the cover over himself. He only had one more day until the exam. He didn't exactly know what it entailed, but he was up to whatever challenge. He wanted to get as far ahead of _him_ as he could. Nothing else mattered. Technically, one rank separated them now, but Neji knew that in skill, he had been farther. Since he left, Neji trained devoutly for days at a time.

_He wasn't going to be a loser again._

2 hours later, Neji was still awake and greeted the morning groggily. The sun had almost reached it's apex and prevented Neji from getting one wink of bliss. Most of the other Hyuuga boys had been already up, so he went to the mess hall.

"Hey, Neji! Come over here." Hugo Hyuuga was a newly graduated genin. Not nearly on Neji's fighting level, but they had made some sort of bond after Neji was rehabilitated after the chase of Sasuke. "So, you nervous about today?" The young Hyuuga inquired curiously.

"I don't really want to talk about it. I'll just take it when it comes." In truth Hyuuga Neji was extremely nervous, the lack of sleep hadn't made the feeling any better. He didn't even know what to prepare for.

While Konoha's Chunnin exams were a public affair, the Jounin exam was completely shrouded in mystery except to the Jounin's themselves. Through Neji's info gathering, Neji found absolutely nothing about the Jounin exams, except for a few facts. You could only take the exam by request, it is somewhat unique for every person, and only 2 out of 3 lived though it. This led Neji to believe that the only way he could fail, is if he died.

"That's not true, Neji." Gai-sensei had said a few days earlier. "I failed twice before getting the rank." This lightened Neji's heavy heart. At least if he failed, he wasn't **guaranteed **to die.

A light tap on the shoulder brought Neji back to reality. He turned around to see his sensei behind him. The usual glow of happiness wasn't their, at this point in time, Gai reminded Neji of himself.

"Neji, the test will begin soon, we have to go their." There was a pause and a certain tension between the two. This was the first time he had seen his sensei serious or not blubbering over Lee's ailments. To diffuse the apparent apprehension, Gai laughed loudly and gave him a thumbs up. "Youth is on your side Neji. Now hurry." Neji left his food on the table and walked to the door with his teacher.

"Does that hurt?" Gai said looking at the bandaged finger. Neji explained that the nurse had healed it, but some pain hadn't faded away. Gai nodded and continued walking. It wasn't like him to be this quiet. What was he hiding? It had to be something stressing him out to cause this much distraction. All that was on Neji's mind was the test right now. He had to know.

_What was on that test!_

"There it is." Situated in a small field of green grass laid a tall building built in a traditional Chinese style. It had brown roofs and white walls white a single visible door visible from the distance they were standing at. They kept walking and very soon reached the door.

The inside wasn't magnificent, nor was it ragged. The walls were clean and the room they were in was empty except for a small desk with a record player sitting on top. Behind him, Neji couldhear the door opening. From outside Hatake Kakashi stepped into the room, reading a book. He glanced at Neji and nodded towards Gai. Then he walked slowly towards a wall.

"Kakashi, you forgot to turn it on." He turned back around at Gai request and walked to the record player. Flicking the switch, Neji immediately recognized the tune of the song. When the Chorus rang out, he couldn't believe his ears.

_MORTAL COMBAT!_

Gai tapped his feet to the Techno beat."This is your first test. To past, you must knock me to the floor. Don't take this lightly, you must aim to kill, or you'll never pass." Neji straightened his headband and stretched his arms and legs. He had been waiting for this for a long time. Smirking, he responded to his teachers request.

"Whenever your ready."

* * *

Kakashi slipped out of sight after turning on the record player. The genjutsu hidden door was virtually undetectable. The room he enteredwas garbed with varied furniture. Tables, chairs, and cabinets with coffee makers on top. On the wall were names and pictures of all the Jounin of the village. 

The room was crowded with most of the Jounin of the village. They were here to grade Neji on the test but most were busy getting coffee and reading magazines. Tsunade was sleeping in a chair next to the Genjutsu enhanced wall. Kakashi sat down at a table next to Asuma and Kurenai.

"You know, I really think Neji could kill Gai. He seems as if he could never match up to any of us." The statement was completely unexpected. Asuma looked shocked at Kurenai's brazenness. However Kakashi stopped reading his book and chuckled at the inexperienced Jounin.

"Have you ever seen Gai fight seriously?"he said. Gauging from her appearance, he assumed that she had not. "Well, actually no one has actually _seen_ him fight. Not even I."

She shot him back a look. "What do you mean by that."

"I mean, he is too fast for even my Sharingan to see. No one has ever survived an onslaught from him besides me. And we never have fought the death." The tone of his voice went icy. "His speed is comparable to the Fourth's. Just watch, you'll see why he earned the name of Konoha's Green Blur."

* * *

My favorite team/clan/character. I tried to make this better than the last, I'm still not done with it. More chapters will come up later. Rate and review. You know the drill. Flames are welcome. 


End file.
